Cliff Lee

In a baseball season frequently dubbed "the year of the pitcher" because of the sudden proliferation of dominant mound performances seemingly helping to shut the door on Major League Baseball's notorious "steroid era," we are being treated to an encore presentation in the 2010 postseason.

The Texas Rangers are looking for their first playoff series win in franchise history, and last week, it looked like they would get it. The Rangers took games one and two in commanding fashion, giving up only one run. Starting pitchers Cliff Lee, and C.J. Wilson dominated both games, leading Rangers fans to think a sweep was in order. The sweep, however would not be so, leading 2-1 in the late innings of game 3, Ron Washington made some questionable decisions with the bullpen, and they could not finish the job, losing 6-2.

There is not much going wrong for the New York Yankees, after sweeping the Minnesota Twins easily to advance to the ALCS.

However it happened, this is not the same team who finished off 2010 regular season barely breathing.

Resembling championship form almost overnight has caused rumors to swirl for the sudden upgraded play.

Maybe it’s just pure postseason rush?

All season long, Yankee fans have rooted against the Rays.

Especially down the stretch, when both teams were locked in an epic battle for the AL East crown.

There were some epic moments, too. Like Robbie Cano's homer. Or arguably the best-pitched game by two teams in a game this season, with Sabathia and Price on top of their games. And of course, Derek Jeter's "hit by pitch" that almost cost the Rays the game.

Yep, plenty to hate about them Rays.

But this is the time to be rooting for them.

So far in the 2010 ALDS we have seen one series dominated by a perennial powerhouse, and another series go back-and-forth between two teams with little postseason history.

The New York Yankees of course finished off another sweep of the Minnesota Twins Saturday, marking the second straight year they did so.

In the other series we saw the Texas Rangers take the first two games on the road only to drop the next two at home to the Tampa Bay Rays. Game 5 is on Tuesday as we will see a matchup of aces Cliff Lee vs. David Price.

The Philadelphia Phillies are not the New York Yankees.

If you hail from the Bronx, or are an ardent supporter of the pinstripers, feel free to snicker, or insert your "uh, duh" comments if you want to, but this article is not as much about you or your team as much as it is about the Phillies.

As so dubbed by fans and critics across the country, the 2010 Major League Baseball season has been the Year of the Pitcher. This title is well deserved, as perfect games were thrown by Dallas Braden and Roy Halladay and no-hitters were twirled by Ubaldo Jimenez, Edwin Jackson, and Matt Garza. And no one will forget the rather infamous 28-out perfect game that Armando Galaraga gave us.

No matter what happens during the 2010 Major League Playoffs, the Yankees will immediately get to work in the offseason to either win a third straight title or try to get back on top after a one year hiatus.

One free agent target most everyone in the industry agrees the Yankees will get their hands on is current Rangers ace Cliff Lee. Lee has been one of the best pitchers in baseball over the past three seasons and is bolstering his playoff resume with each gem he twirls in October.

Roy Oswalt got roughed up in his first postseason game for the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, giving up three earned runs in just five innings in what would eventually become a Phillies' Game 2 victory. This was on the heels of Cliff Lee's first postseason appearance with the Texas Rangers, in which Lee went seven innings, allowing only one earned run with 10 strikeouts and no walks.

So will Oswalt or Lee guide their newly adopted teams to postseason glory? If past midseason pitcher acquisitions are any indication, the odds aren't good.  Let's have a look.